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Old 7 Dec 18, 07:24 PM  
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Milpston
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Thumbs up 5 do Florida for the 1st time - October 2018 - Day 11 - Universal Studios, Hard Rock Cafe, HRH

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I had been looking forward to a couple of days at Universal. I think this was due to it being a bit more familiar for to us with us having been before. Chloe was nearly 10 last time we went. I was looking forward to it so much that Sally woke me at 06:00 then she had to pretty much kick me out of bed at 06:15 which was when we had planned to set off.

By the time we had loaded the car up it was about 07:10. So much for our 07:00 check in at Universal. We must have gone back into the villa about 4 times for things we had forgotten. We got half way along the US27 towards the I4 when I suddenly realised I had forgotten the Universal tickets. I was completely my fault (you won't hear that often) as I had left them in my ruck sack in a cupboard. Strangely we never used the safe the whole time we were there which probably isn't very smart. So with the slight hump by now we turned back an collected them.

Back on track it was a decent journey to Universal without any hold ups.





We weren't to far from Universal when it suddenly dawned on me that I had left my camera at the villa I realised just after that that I hadn't picked up our passports. I had read that you had to show photo ID when you first use your Universal tickets. This morning wasn't going well. There was no way I was going to turn back now so we pressed on without them.







Clearly nobody else was stressed out about it like I was. Sometimes the burden of being the planner must weigh heavy

We soon arrived at universal and found our way to the Hard Rock Hotel without any issues.









With it being a bit later than we planned we just grabbed the things we would need for our day in Islands Of Adventure and headed into the hotel lobby to check in at 08:30. Fortunately I found my Driving license in my mobile phone case so used that when they asked me for ID on check in. It was quick and easy to check in and get our room keys which doubled as our express passes. Sally also had her driving license and Chloe has her provisional in her purse so my only fear now was that the kids didn't have any ID if we needed it on first use of our theme park tickets. (We didn't)

We followed the signs out of the HRH towards the parks. I made another slight misjudgement here by going in completely the wrong direction/ I realised later that there was something or somebody standing in front of part of the sign which made me completely miss the other arrow I took a picture later to prove my point but I can't find it

Anyway, because of our slight diversion we ended up at the Portofino Bay Hotel. Sally and Chloe headed in to Starbuck for a coffee and something to eat.





I asked a couple of people the quickest way to the parks and they said it would be by taxi boat for which there was a fair queue. I had already turned down the taxi boat at HRH in favour of walking so I wasn't backing down now so we carried on walking around the lake until we made it right the way back to where we had started at the HRH.

Within a few minutes we reached bag check.





We were really moving now and quickly inside the park. I looked around a little confused and suddenly realised we were in Universal Studios and not Islands Of Adventure as planned. All in all, after 18 months of planning this morning had been a complete cock up. Luckily, apart from having to rely on my phone as a camera for a couple of days, being in the wrong park and a little later than planned there was no harm done.

Obviously we didn't really have a plan of attack for today. Although I had spent a least a couple of days here before I have to say it didn't really look familiar.







Emma saw Twirl and Hurl and wanted to go on so we all had a ride. This was pretty much a walk on.





We then headed off towards Diagon Alley. We had seen the Hogwarts area on our last trip but this was new for us. We spotted Kreature on the way.





The whole area is very well done. I do think people get it a bit carried away by it but it's brilliantly themed. We like the Harry potter Films but weren't particularly interested in going in all the shops. I had considered getting the kids some wands but decided to leave this for another trip when they are a bit older and I think they will get more out of it.

We headed into Kings Cross.









We had a little nose around then went to Gringotts. This was one of my must do rides for this trip. Before we went in we had to see the dragon and breathe fire. Emma quickly decided she didn't like it by announcing that's she was a bit scared.

Chloe and I went on first.





I really enjoyed it. I thought the effects were brilliant.

Chloe and Sally went on next and I told them I would meet them back outside Kings Cross as it was quite busy in Diagon Alley as you would expect.

We checked out the night bus with the talking head. They were actually really funny.





Sally and Chloe weren't too long as Gringotts was only a short wait with the express passes.

We got some ice creams from Florean Fortescue's next. I have to say they were very nice. A snip at £24 for 5 aice creams.



We managed to eat the ice creams without too much mess as the temperature had dropped down the mid to late 20's. It made the parks much more.

Sally and Chloe wanted to see the Night bus up close so we paid it another visit. They remembered Emma and Benjamin's name and the talking head was calling out to them. It was really good.





Next we headed off to do a couple more rides. Next up was Transformers. Chloe and I went on first. I don't remember going on this before. I can't remember if it was there last time we went. I must go the same goes for Rip Ride Rockit.



I enjoyed Transformers but then I have always liked Spiderman and they're not too different. When we came off Sally wasn't too bothered about doing Transformers so we moved on. It was about 11:40 by now so we stopped off at Monsters Café to get the kids an early lunch. Once food had been ordered Chloe and I darted off and did Rip Ride Rockit whilst they ate. Again just a short wait with the express passes. RRR was OK. I liked having the music but I do think it is a bit of a bone shaker. Nowhere near as smooth as many other roller coasters.

Sally and Chloe then went on. We never really made use of child swap at Universal. Having the Express passes meant we didn't need to and whoever was waiting with the kids just went for a little wander with the kids.





The kids enjoyed their lunch in Monsters Café.





We soon moved on as we had lots more rides we wanted to get done today. On the way we found Max and Snowball. Emma was chuffed as her and Benjamin have watched Secret Life Of Pets dozens of times.







Next up was Woody's Nuthouse Coaster. Chloe took Emma on this one. Emma loved it.





On the way back through Springfield we grabbed a Lard ad donut and some drinks. We found a nice spot to sit down and relax whilst we had our refreshments.













Chloe went on The Simspons Ride next. It was the first time I had done this. I think the wait was a good 15 - 20 minutes even with the express pass. I was a little bit bored of simulators by this point. It was OK. No motion sickness issues as I have read from lots of others. Took a picture out to Springfield as we were queueing.



We headed up to Men In Black afterwards. Emma was getting a bit ratty by this point and was being a bit of a pain. Chloe and Sally went on MIB first While I had the kids. Emma was grump and not doing as she was told. unsurprisingly she had a bit of a nap in the stroller. When she is a pain it's usually a sure sign of her being tired. I went and had a smoke in the nearby smoking area. Universal has more smoking areas and they are much easier to find. Listen up Disney

I then went on MIB with Chloe. I didn't note the scores... but I won It was a walk on with express pass.





We had a stroll down to Fast and Furious. Sally and Chloe went on while I had the kids. I think Emma was asleep whilst they were on this. They were gone for quite some time even with express passes.





Benjamin and I had some boy time.



Sally and Chloe weren't exactly raving about the ride when they came out so I decided to give it a miss. We went on The mummy next. I really liked it.



We got a couple of pictures with Jaws. I have to say Universal could do with something like Jaws back again to mix up the simulators a bit. I loved Back to the future too years ago.



By now time was ticking on and we decided to ride the Hogwarts Express over to Islands Of Adventure before heading out for something to eat.

We arrived at HE at about 16:45. The queue for this was a bit of a pain. If you had a stroller there was a different queue for a lift which took a while. The walking through the wall was really well done and the theming is excellent again.













We arrived in IOA at 17:02 so the queue wasn't as long as I remembered.





We had a steady stroll through the IOA. We had thought we would be going back to HRH and then coming our to dinner but as it was later than expected we decided to eat on the way back to the hotel. We done really well today. The only ride we didn't really do was Jimmy Fallon and I have to say none of us really had any interest in that anyway.

We pretty much walked in to one of the first places we came to which was Hard Rock Café. We hadn't planned on eating here but thought we might pop next door and get a milkshake from Toothsome for dessert. The kids were hungry as it was 18:00 by now.







We had a sharing dish to start and this was brought out with a flatbread for Emma and chicken tenders for Benjamin.











For entrée's Chloe had a Chicken pasta. Sally and I had burgers.





The food was all good. No complaints at all and the service was fine although our main meals took quite a while to come out. The total was the equivalent of £99.61 including tip.

It was 19:10 by now so our afternoon swim at the hotel had pretty much passed us by.









We walked back the hotel, left Sally and the kids in the lobby whilst Chloe and I grabbed our over night bit from the car before heading up to the room about 19:40.



We did a bit of a photo tour of the room. We only booked a standard view as we would only be there for one night. It was obviously dark by the time we got to the room and I couldn't even tell you what the window looked out to. I'm not sure I even looked our the window. The
room was very nice and very comfortable.













It was 20:00 by the time Emma asked if we were still going swimming today. When asked if she wanted to go it was a definite yes so we grabbed a swimming things and headed down. Sally decided to stay out as she wanted to try and get Benjamin to sleep. Chloe, Emma and I headed in. The pool was nice but not nearly as big as it appears in the photos I've seen of it. It's pretty shallow throughout which is good for kids.







It was actually quite funny as the life guards spent most of their time blowing their whistles at kids as usual. All of a sudden a female life guard when running in to rescue a little girl near the bottom of the slide. She was fine and was just mucking about with her friends but the lifeguard obviously thought she was struggling. When the lifeguard got out she was left standing in her position by her colleagues for a good 20 minutes with a towel wrapped around her shoulders. She was pretty much blue by the time they let her go and get changed. When the life guard went rushing in Sally nearly had a heart attack as she thought it was Emma she was going to rescue... nice for me to be trusted

It was actually pretty chilly when you got out of the water wet. We wasn't sure where to get changed so Chloe went off to the toilet to get dressed. Sally managed to change Emma at the poolside with a towel wrapped round her. I spotted a cabana that was obviously not being used so snuck in there for a quick change.



By now it was about 21:20. Benjamin was asleep in his stroller so we thought it would be rude not to go and have a drink on the terrace by the pool. Sally and I had a Mojito each. Chloe had a virgin cocktail and a coke whilst Emma stuck with a water.









Whilst enjoying our drinks I asked the bar staff where the nearest smoking area was. I was promptly brought over an ash tray which was a lovely treat.

After a long day it was time to head up to bed. Emma was a pain to get off to sleep tonight but we thoroughly enjoyed our day at Universal Studios. I'm not sure I'd like to do them without an Express pass now... they spoil you.
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Edited at 07:25 PM.
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Old 7 Dec 18, 08:57 PM  
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You really are putting me to shame now, two days written up today 😀 Great day at Universal, you did so much especially as you were delayed so much by returning to the villa etc.

Must have had extra energy after the couple of rest days you had. Emma certainly seems to be enjoying the swimming pools now 😀
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Old 7 Dec 18, 08:59 PM  
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A pain the day started out with the stress of forgetting your camera and ID but in the end it didn't seem to matter at check in.

Universal looks like it was fun and you all enjoyed yourselves. It looks like it was a pretty hot day today though.

The cocktails at the end of the day looked lovely.
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Old 7 Dec 18, 09:32 PM  
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Great day 👍
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Old 8 Dec 18, 11:34 PM  
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Great day, you managed to do a lot especially considering the hiccups you had in the morning!

Interesting that you didn't need to use child swap with the express passes, I'd been wondering about it for next year as I know it's different to Disney, but sounds like maybe we can just wait outside the ride
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Old 10 Dec 18, 04:09 PM  
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Oh dear not a good start ... not very often a man will admit to being in the wrong I see you weren't looking too impressed with Sally's selfie

At least you made it ... eventually haha.

We found the same with Universal, we didn't need to use the parent swap with the express passes.

Aww how cute, I love Secret Life of Pets ... the new one's coming out soon if you fancy a cinema trip!

Food in Hard Rock looks lovely and looks like Emma enjoyed the flatbread.

I'd have been the same as Sally and thought the worst ... must be a mother thing ... or that we can't trust our husbands with the kid's haha.

A fab day, I know what you mean about the express passes ... I'm really debating it for next year! Xx
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Old 10 Dec 18, 05:27 PM  
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Another great day thanks again for taking the time to share it
I have been looking at the night in a hotel for the express passes and just do the two days at Universal, looking forward to day 12
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Old 12 Dec 18, 12:42 PM  
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Milpston
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Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil View Post
You really are putting me to shame now, two days written up today 😀 Great day at Universal, you did so much especially as you were delayed so much by returning to the villa etc.

Must have had extra energy after the couple of rest days you had. Emma certainly seems to be enjoying the swimming pools now 😀
Haha. I go through spurts of when I can get things done. I obviously had a quiet day and the kids were behaving

We did feel nice and refreshed and ready to hit the parks again. As with most kids that age the pools were starting to become a big highlight for her.
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Old 12 Dec 18, 12:45 PM  
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Milpston
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
A pain the day started out with the stress of forgetting your camera and ID but in the end it didn't seem to matter at check in.

Universal looks like it was fun and you all enjoyed yourselves. It looks like it was a pretty hot day today though.

The cocktails at the end of the day looked lovely.
I think the problems all stemmed from me not getting my bum out of bed in good time! It was lucky I found my driving license for check in or I think I may have ended up doing another trip back to the villa!

It was a little cooler ay mid to late 20's so a nice temperature for all of us. We enjoyed Universal. Off to IOA tomorrow which has always been one of my favourites.
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Old 12 Dec 18, 12:46 PM  
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Milpston
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Originally Posted by Cinderella View Post
Great day 👍
Thank you
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